I Promise
by dude-touch-my-cape
Summary: The End portal fizzed to life, and, ignoring Geoff's warnings, Michael and Gavin enter before their group. Lost in The End, they carefully make their way towards the other members of their team. But when you die inThe End, there's no telling where you'll end up. - Might be Mavin later on (?) - Character Death - Minecraft AU
1. Chapter 1

Ray counted off the names of their team as they made their way down the narrow flight of stairs and into the Stronghold, chanting "No way in, no way out" gleefully as he erected multiple sets of doors around the entrance.

"Ray, shut the fuck up," Michael grinned at the man in front of him jumping across the blocks.

"Nah, don't feel like it- parkour!"

Geoff groaned and yelled at everyone to pay attention. "Alright, everyone, we're going into The End now, so it's time to get serious. As I said earlier, if you fall off the edge of the island in here you die. Since someone," he glared daggers at Gavin, who'd accidentally burned the house down before they could move the beds, "destroyed our house, you won't spawn back at the house. So don't do anything too fucking stupid, alright? Respawns without a bed aren't pretty."

Jack lofted up the final Eye of Ender. "Alright, are we all ready?"

"We have to be," Ryan rolled his eyes. "Ray blocked all the exits." Ray beamed.

"Right," Jack nodded. "Here we go."

The portal sparked to life. Michael turned, smirking, to Gavin. "Ladies first."

"Okay, go on, then," Gavin giggled back.

"For fuck's sake," Geoff groaned. "Flirt later, you two. This is serious business."

Ray laughed and muttered "Mavin" to himself, a term he'd come up with to use whenever Michael and Gavin were "acting like huge homos."

Gavin slapped him lightly on the arm. "Shut up, X-Ray."

"How about you shut up first," Michael interrupted.

"Ooh, got him," Ray quipped.

"How about everyone shuts up and focuses? God damn, guys, we've come too far for this." Geoff stepped between the Lads and forced his expression stern, though he knew they were all just nervous and trying to lighten the mood.

"Geoff's right," Ryan agreed. "Let's just get this over with."

"Geoff, how about you go first?" Michael offered.

"Whatever. It doesn't matter, just make sure we stick together and don't wander off-"

The rest of his leader's words were lost as Michael warped in the portal, feeling himself materialize on the strangely-textured Endstone. There was a whooshing noise as Gavin appeared beside him, blinking rapidly to adjust to the dim lighting of the stars and faraway fiery pillars of obsidian.

Michael drew his sword, Mogar, and motioned for Gavin to follow him.

"Michael, Geoff said not to wander off! They'll be here any second."

"Exactly! Let's just scout ahead a bit. No one will care," Michael shrugged.

Gavin sighed and took an arrow from his quiver and held it out in front of him, using the beams from the enchantment as a makeshift torch. He and Michael made their way cautiously down the broken stairs, frequently peering behind them to look where they'd appeared. There was no sign of anyone else materializing; Michael voiced his theory.

"There's probably multiple portal entrances. They just went into a different one."

"For our sake, I hope you're right," Gavin shivered. "Either that or time moves differently in the Void."

"That's probably it," Michael breathed. The End was eerily quiet; unlike the Nether, with its constant threat of Ghasts; or the Overworld's nightly monsters and sneaky creepers. Michael was so caught up in thought that he almost didn't notice as his foot missed the next step of Endstone and was met with the stuffy air.

Luckily, Gavin was quick and grasped a hand around Michael's own, tugging him back onto the stairs. "Michael!" He screamed, dropping the bow and arrow in favor of holding his friend's shoulders in his hands. "What were you thinking?! You could have fallen, could have died!"

Michael's breaths came in short, ragged bursts and he clutched his partner in crime's tunic as tightly as he could, eyes wide in shock. "Gavin..." He whispered. "I... Gavin, you..."

"'Course I caught you, you donut! But seriously, be careful!" Gavin's eyes were teary and he sniffled as the words poured from his mouth. "Promise me that, Michael, promise you'll be careful!"

Michael closed his eyes and took a deep shuddering breath. "I'll be careful," he solemnly promised. Gavin released his shirt and retrieved his bow.

"Come on, let's find the others," he muttered, drying his eyes quickly and evening his quivering voice.

The dark sky gave such little light that the two had a hard time distinguishing between obsidian and Endermen. When they inevitably were confronted with the gaunt black figures, sprinted from the monsters, hiding behind the tall ebony towers and shooting from a distance. They recovered the arrows they could and went on.

Since the incident, Gavin's face was steeled and his hand gripped the bow until his knuckles turned white. Michael was quiet and alert, viewing their paths several blocks in (almost excessive) advance.

Time dragged on with no sign of the other Achievement Hunters. Michael and Gavin were starting to get worried and, with no map, they were completely lost. They'd decided to take refuge in a small cave they'd created from the cobblestone they'd brought with them.

"Michael," Gavin whimpered, leaning against his friend's unusually strap-free shoulder. "I'm scared."

Michael patted his arm and smile softly. "Don't be."

Gavin closed his eyes and let the quiet overtake his thoughts. The sound of gentle breathing echoed back to him occasionally and, feeling the warmth of Michael beside him, he relaxed again.

Michael kept watch. Endermen stayed away from their cave for the most part, but when the came nearby, he sealed the door up and waited it out. He wondered when the others would find them.

* * *

After what felt like a few hours of recuperation, Michael and Gavin tore down the cave and continued on their search for the team.

They left behind bridges and small hints- a feather from a broken arrow here, a red rose there- and wandered the perimeter of the island. For such an empty expanse of darkness and quiet, there were several of the obsidian pillars and makeshift Endstone stairs.

They reached a trench in the grayish yellow Endstone, across from which the lone Ender Dragon sat, spanning its wings as it caught their scents. With a screech it bore itself aloft and flew straight at them.

Gavin's metallic facade slipped as he fired arrow after arrow at the approaching beast. Its purple eyes glowed and its nostrils smoked; as a gigantic maw opened, great tongues of flames danced across the land towards them. Michael braced himself, positioning his sword. Gavin fired his final arrow of the first quiver, sparing his usual good luck call, "MARK NUTT," in the dire situation. The enchantment held true and the shaft struck the right eye of the dragon. It vociferated and swerved, clawing blindly at its face. The arrow splintered and it turned to them, silvery-black blood streaming down its face.

In a flash, it had Gavin in its talons.

"GAVIN!" Michael hurtled his body into motion, barely spanning the narrow trench and hitting the ground running.

Gavin struggled against the vise-like grip holding him in place, drawing his iron sword and slashing at the pitch black legs of the Ender Dragon, chipping off small scales that littered his hair and clung to his skin. He could hear Michael's screams down below, and, from the height he was at, he could see the team in the near distance (close enough to recognize their expressions of shock and fear for Gavin and Michael's safety) moving towards them.

"Michael!" He shouted down. "They're coming!" Michael didn't hear him. "Michael, they're coming!" He repeated at the top of his lungs.

Michael could hear Gavin yelling something at him but his ears were filled with the sound of flapping wings and the Ender Dragon dove at him. The bony edge of its appendage clipped him in the shoulder and he went flying. He landed on his right arm and cried out, losing his sword and rolling from impact. The edge of the world loomed beneath him and, grasping desperately for the Endstone with his uninjured arm, heard Gavin hit the ground a few feet before where he had. He heard his name again as his fingers strained too hard under his weight and released his life line.

The last thing he could see was Gavin's arm reaching out for him, a second too late, crying and screaming and kicking as Ray and Geoff pulled him from the edge. Red ebbed into his line of vision and everything went fuzzy.

Gavin struggled against the Dragon's talons- no, not talons; his friends' arms were holding him back from the edge. Tears dripped down his cheeks as Michael blurred into nothingness, enveloped by the darkness below the island.

His screams rubbed his throat raw until it was painful to suck in every breath. His eyes and cheeks burned with the salty trails blazing down his skin. He grasped Ray's jacket and sobbed into it.

Ray wrapped his arms around the Lad. "It's okay, Vav," he whispered softly into Gavin's hair.

"He's g-gone," Gavin managed through wracks of his frame.

"We'll find him, Gavin," Geoff murmured, rubbing soothing circles on Gavin's back. "I promise." At that word, Gavin let out a wail of anguish that chilled Geoff and Ray to the core. Geoff winced. "Right now we have to get out of here, okay?"

Gavin choked back a sob and nodded weakly, sinking to his knees and clasping the bow again. He replaced his quiver and put his head back into the game. "Its right eye's damaged, as well as its leg. If you can take out the Ender Crystals we might have a better chance at grounding it," he strategized, calling out loud enough for Ryan and Jack to hear. Immediately they began scaling the pillars with towers of sand.

Geoff and Ray helped Gavin up and all three ran to the raised obsidian altar where the Dragon sat. Endermen spawned, one right in front of Ray, and moved towards them. Ray panicked and pulled out the first thing in his inventory- a piece of cake.

"WHOA, WHERE DID THIS COME FROM?! GET THIS SHIT OUTTA HERE," he hollered behind Gavin, tossing the confectionary as far away as possible. It hit an Enderman that spun and teleported into the midst of them.

With the Lads and Geoff as a distraction, Jack and Ryan quickly took out the Ender Crystals surrounding the battle. The Dragon let out a mighty bellow and pounced at them. They quickly started mining their towers down to the ground, jumped in, and began to drive the Endermen back.

With the Endermen gone all that was left to do was to kill the Dragon. Ray climbed the alter to stand beneath the underbelly of the beast, whacking incessantly with his golden gardening hoe; Geoff and Jack swung their enchanted diamond swords, slashing dripping black wounds into its neck; Ryan built step-towers up and slashed his pickaxe at the Dragon's tail; and Gavin shot arrow after flaming arrow at the paper-thin gray membrane of its wings.

When the Dragon plummeted to the ground, Gavin almost couldn't believe his eyes. They'd actually done it. They'd gotten to The End and beat it.

Not all of them, he reminded himself. Most of them had. Michael...

And then it dawned on him again. Michael, his best friend, the only other member of Team Nice Dynamite, was gone. Lost in a spawn above ground, who knew where he would turn up or what he would remember without his bed?

Gavin's knees failed him and he collapsed to the ground. The celebrating around him stopped immediately. Ray was instantly at his side again, pulling him into his arms and whispering, "I know, Vav. I know."

Gavin coughed. "R-Ray, I should have saved him!"

"There's nothing you could have done, Gavino," Geoff reminded him.

"I'm the one who... Who didn't stop him from g-going off," Gavin clutched his head. "This is... It's all my fault...!"

Jack laid a hand on Geoff's shoulder. "We should get him home," he supplied.

Ray gently pulled his friend up from the Enderstone- Gavin was starting to hate the material- and threw his arm beneath Gavin's. he walked them to the portal and stepped them both through without a single look back. They appeared back in Achievement city. It was night time.

"Come on, Gav," he whispered. "Let's get you to bed."


	2. Chapter 2

**I am so sorry this took so long!**

Michael woke up, a seamless transition from emptiness to jolting into a sitting position in the woods. He couldn't remember what happened. Why was he in the woods? He immediately knew he wasn't familiar with the area he was in. He'd never really been good with making maps. That had always been Gavin's job.

Gavin. He was falling and they were fighting the Ender Dragon and Gavin was there and Gavin Gavin _Gavin_.

His mind swirled, chanting _Gavin_ over and over again. He stood and quickly regretted it. Lights flashed behind his eyelids and his entire body felt weak and dizzy. He stumbled from the shade of the tree and pointed himself towards the taller side of the mountainous region surrounding him. He wasn't sure where he was, but he was going to make it back to Achievement City if it killed him.

Briefly he thought perhaps that wasn't the best way to word it.

…

The sun was hot above Michael. His skin was flushed and his hood had been tugged back, disheveled curls pushed back from his forehead. The forest had thinned out until sparse trees were replaced with cacti and the dirt with shifting sand. The landscape was flat and dry; the last stream he'd stopped at was an hour back or so. He instead took frequent rests in the measly shade of the cacti, rummaging through his pack time and time again, organizing and reorganizing. Michael groaned, put his bag back on, and stood. His stone sword weighted his hips and clicked against his boots as he stood.

His food supply was running dangerously low. What the forest lacked in animals, it made up for in trees, which was incredibly helpful at the time when he wasn't hungry. Now his stomach felt hollow, and no amount of wooden handles was going to change that.

But whether it was the hunger or the feeling of hopelessness that was gnawing at his insides, he couldn't tell.

…

After what felt like an eternity of walking, Michael's feet hit cobblestone and he slumped down on the bridge, nearly crying tears of relief as his eyes traced it to the city on the hill. The lights were dim, only the outside torches illuminating the homes.

He braced himself against the side of the bridge and steadied himself, mustering the strength to take those steps towards the most welcoming place in the world. Michael's house was dark and solemn; there was no warm glow from his furnace. All of the houses were dark inside, he realized as he peered into windows, except for Geoff's. Hesitantly, he knocked on the door.

The sound of muffled footsteps seemed to go on forever before the iron door swung open. Geoff was grumbling about it being late, rubbing his eyes in frustration, but stopped dead when he took in the sight before him.

"Hey, boss," Michael croaked out. Geoff's arms were a fading blur, trying to catch him as he collapsed. Before he fully lost consciousness, he could hear Geoff shouting at Ray to help.

…

The next morning Gavin awoke with a hollow feeling in his heart. He felt empty inside; he didn't feel like leaving his house. He took one of the diamond pickaxes from his submerged chest and dug himself a new room adjoining the trophy hall, closing it off behind him and lighting a torch on the far wall. He curled himself into a ball and cried.

A few hours later he heard footsteps above him. Small granules of dirt brushed his skin as someone walked over him. He heard muffled calling of his name but he didn't answer. The footsteps faded and he collapsed back into fits of dry sobs, devoid of any tears. He'd shed them all over Michael, his boy, his best friend. He'd never see him again.

…

Eventually he heard the sounds of a pickaxe on cobblestone and his dim room was flooded with light. He shielded his eyes and listened closely. "Gavin," Geoff said.

He felt hands on his own, threaded into his hair, and he looked up at Geoff. Dark rings lined the underside of his eyes and his chin was rough with stubble.

"Thank god we found you," Geoff was suddenly angry. "Do you know how long it's fucking been? Seventeen hours, you dumb shit, and I bet you didn't know that, nor have you probably eaten!"

Gavin looked down in shame and shook his head. Geoff's eyes softened and he helped the Lad up, rubbing his back soothingly. "Come on, Gavin, you need to come back to us."

Gavin complied without a word, dragging his feet up the cobblestone stairs. Something in him had cracked when Michael fell, Geoff could tell, and it had broken as soon as Michael wasn't there to greet them when they returned to Achievement City.

They made their way out of Gavin's house and Geoff steered him towards the giant gray monolith he called home. The door swung open and Ray, Jack, and Ryan met them, pulling Gavin in and turning him to the left wall. Gavin was still staring at the floor stubbornly and Ray cleared his throat. "Vav, uh, you might wanna look up." Gavin reluctantly turned his head up and nearly fell over.

There was a new bed in the house. A bed where that oh so familiar man lay.

His Michael, his boy.

Gavin fainted.

…

When Gavin came to, Michael was still sleeping in the bed, back to him. Gavin sat up quickly, head throbbing, and stumbled forward. He reached a hand out and placed it on Michael's shoulder, turning him over and inspecting him. His face was covered with cuts and bruises, his right arm bandaged from what looked like an arrow wound. Gavin's breath hitched; he'd never seen injuries this bad. He tentatively placed a hand in Michael's hair, running his fingers through the thick curls slowly.

Michael's eyes fluttered open not too much later, or at least, Gavin thought. He couldn't tell, as time didn't really seem to be passing at all. "Hey, Gav," Michael breathed as his eyes focused.

"Michael..."

"Sorry, I was a bit late," Michael laughed nervously, unsure what Gavin was going to say or how he would react.

"You're an i-idiot," Gavin stammered through tears. "But you came back..."

"Geoff found me," Michael admitted. "He said I was lucky I remembered most of what happened, even though I seemed to have forgotten a few things like how I di- got separated from you guys..." But Gavin wasn't really listening, instead throwing his arms around Michael and crying into his hoodie. He curled his fists into it and nuzzled into the warmth of his best friend again. He'd been so cold without him.

Michael held him back with equal necessity and, feeling his eyes watering, buried his face in Gavin's hair.

"I missed you," Gavin whispered.

"I missed you, too, Grabbin," Michael smiled into his hair, pressing himself closer to the Lad. They embraced for what felt like forever.

"Michael..." Gavin muttered through his joyful tears after a long while.

"Yeah, Gav?" Michael tilted his head down to look Gavin in the eyes.

Gavin bit his lip, a million emotions running through his bright green eyes. First anxiety, then resolution, then determination. He slowly leaned closer and hesitantly pressed his lips to Michael's. Michael's eyes widened as he tasted the salt of tears and realized Gavin thought he was rejecting him. As the latter broke away, Michael tipped forward and continued it, to Gavin's surprise and delight.

When they broke apart for air, Gavin pushed him back onto the bed and lay down next to him, kissing him gently and quickly a few times. Michael returned those just as eagerly. Gavin wrapped his arms around Michael's neck. Michael threaded his fingers in Gavin's hair and pressed soft kisses to his lips and chin, reveling in Gavin's giggles.

"Michael, I love you," he breathed.

"I love you, too, stupid," Michael grinned. "And I really wish this hadn't been the way it happened."

"I'm just thankful you're back," Gavin admitted. "But don't ever leave me again, okay?"

"I don't want to. I never wanted to."

Gavin smiled and took Michael's hand. Michael squeezed back and Gavin curled up next to him. They fell asleep in each other's arms, fingers entwined.


End file.
